Moving From England to Canada

~ The Start of a New Life ~

Hi! Today I thought I would finally talk about moving from
England to Canada, the experiences I met and the differences that I have
noticed between these two places. I also look forward to adding some tips and
suggestions to keep in mind when moving from the UK to CA.

Here is a Special Collection of Pictures, giving a glimpse of Canada and the UK :)

Yes, There are Polar Bears in Canada

British Telephone Box

I have wanted to write about this for ages, and I am glad I finally
have. It has almost been a year since the move, and know I can really
look back on how I faced moving from England to Canada. I would love to
share my experience with you!

So I have lived in England for most of my life. As you can
imagine, it became home to me. It is there I enjoyed most of my childhood experiences. However, I have always been interested in exploring different places in
the world. In our old house, we used to have a world map in the dining room and I
always used to look at it in wonderment; thinking about how small the United
Kingdom really is on the map of the world.

The Other Side of The World

Moving From England To Canada

To be perfectly honest, I never really took note of
Canada till it came up in a discussion one day. The existence of that country had
never really come into my consciousness. It was so far away, and I didn’t really
know anyone who was Canadian. But then my dad became interested in Canada and I
started to learn more about that far-away country. We did a lot of research
together and we found out some wonderful facts about Canada.

For example we learn that:

Canada is regarded as one of the
best countries to live in the world due to exceptional factors such as
high level of life satisfaction, very high life expectancy, low unemployment, low tax rates, lower murder rates and wide cultural diversity acceptance, compared to many other first world countries.

Our findings indicated that Canada is one of the most peaceful countries in the
world.

It was some brilliant information. I longed to go to Canada on
holiday one day, as I read and learn about all of these. But I never, in my wildest dreams pictured myself living
there.

When The News Came

Tower Bridge, London England

And so time passed, but then came the day when our parents
told us quite seriously, that we were going to move abroad.

I was shocked, at first I found it hard to
accept. But as I saw the plans begin to take shape, I realized that we really
were moving.

Not just to another city. Not even to a nearby country. But to the
Americas, to a completely different continent. On the other side of the world.

Changing Tides

Stonehenge, England

In the beginning, I didn’t want to go.

I was about to start
my last year of high school in the UK and I couldn’t foresee a future where I would
not finish my education in the school.

Moreover, I had many lovely friends and
family, I felt that it was going to be so hard to leave them, and especially to
break the news to them.

But I saw my family's excitement, and I too began to look
forward to the move, at least a little bit.

I told myself that I would view it
as an adventure, a chance to widen my outlook in life.

I saw that it was in
fact a privilege to be able to live in those new surroundings an get to know
the way things are done on the other side of the world.

And this outlook helped
me to cope with the couple of months that I had to break away from everything I
knew in England. To start afresh.

I immersed myself in research about Canada, the area we
would live in, the school I would go to and the environment as a whole. The
more I studied my new home, the more I became excited. Canada became more real
to me, I began to see that there were so many new things to visit and see.

'Goodbye'

So summer eventually came. School ended. I had to say 'goodbye' to my friends and family and we began to pack
for the big move.

As you can imagine,
that summer was one of the most emotional and action packed summers of my life.

Moving continents is no small job. It took weeks and weeks of sorting out
before we were ready. You don’t realise how much stuff you own until you pack
it all up and ship it across the Atlantic!

The day we left the house was quite emotional as most
of my siblings and I had spent all our lives there. But it was also exciting! I
reminded myself that yes , we were leaving...but we could always come back. It is
never really goodbye forever.

The Journey to the End of the Earth

The plane ride to Canada was quite relaxing and calm, the
food was even good. We flew with Canadian affair and the flight was peaceful.

It didn’t seem too long, although the journey from England to Canada was at
least 9 hours, non-stop. We were off to
a good start. One thing I do remember was how friendly people were on the day
of our flight, especially the Canadian airport staff. This really helped me to
feel welcome and relaxed.

As we traveled in a taxi, to our house I noticed how
different the landscape was. The road was full of checker yellow cabs. The
weather was very warm, the sun was abundant, and the sky seemed wider and lower
than I remembered in England. I was
extremely jet-lagged. We ate, and I slept for about 18 hours straight.

And so, we started our new life in Canada.

Here is some of the differences that impacted me.

The accents!

Canadian Geese

To be honest, I never used to be able to tell the difference
between a Canadian and American accent.

But I knew for sure that It was very
different to my (Essex) British accent.

I listened in amazement as people
talked. When I went to school, I could definitely see the American culture and
accents- I felt as if I was on a Disney channel show.

I was introduced to the stereotype of the way that Canadians supposedly say 'eh' a lot. I have found this to
be mostly true. ( 'Eh' at the end of a
sentence tends to be an invitation to agree or comment in some way.)

Say it Again?!

It was not just the accents that took me a bit by surprise
- but also the grammar too. The vocabulary that Canadians use is different from
some British vocab and vise-versa. I got used to the accents but I was surprised
when Canadians didn’t understand the meaning of certain words I said.

Here are a couple of examples of different words that are
not common in England:

Whereas I would normally use the word 'beanie' to describe
the knitted winter hat, I found that Canadians say Toque.

Toilet in England, is the whole room but in Canada it is
referred to as the 'Washroom' and 'Bathroom'.
And so I have started saying bathroom instead.

There are many other Canadian words that confuse the British
and of course the other way round, and so it has been interesting to pick these
differences up.

I love that Canada is bilingual and it has two main
languages- English as well as French. So most items that you purchase here are
labelled in both languages.

The Weather and HUGE Worrries

Winter Trees In Canada

Warm, Winter Boots

Ok. So this was one of the things that completely frightened
me. Canadian weather is notorious for its extremes.

Extreme cold and huge
amounts of snow in the winter, and hot, dry weather in the summer. I was
terrified of experiencing the cold, especially having to go to school in it. In
England we would often get days of school when it snowed a bit.

Yep that doesn’t happen here.

Canadians know how to deal
with the cold and snow and so we were going to have to learn too.

The Winters are not the Same

I had been told of temperatures reaching -20 to -30 degrees Celsius
to be very common - and I freaked out.

But then I came to learn that British
winters and Canadian winters are quite different.

In Britain the weather is
generally damp, and the winters are too. But Canadian winters are quite dry,
and where I live in Alberta, we get Chinooks.
Because it is drier here, the cold
does not get so deep into your bones as the damp British winters. So -5 degrees
in the UK might not feel far off from -15 here. I walk to school lightly dressed in temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees here. You couldn't do that in England.

Chinooks are a warm dry wind that blows down the east side
of the Rocky Mountains during winter. The Chinooks help a lot. It could be -30
degrees one day and then +10 degrees the next thanks to them. They make the
winter just a bit more bearable.

Anyway, our first winter- my only winter in Canada at this
moment- was quite mild. It was unusually warm. And while we did hit -30 a few
times, we found that it was manageable with the right clothing and the great
indoor heating system.

Right now, I am enjoying summer here. The summers are quite
short, but the weather is amazing and warm. This year though, we have had a fabulous long "summer" from April even up to the end of October (as I update this very paragraph).

The Food

Canadian Maple Syrup Pancakes

Something I do miss about England is the food. Don’t get me wrong- I love my maple syrup
pancakes and bacon.

But British food seems to be off better quality due to
different food regulations. There is also a wider selection in the British
supermarkets. I thought we would find more here. But not exactly. I have also had to remind myself
countless times that Canada is not the States.

Difference In Schooling

High school in England goes up to grade 11 but here in Canada,
it goes up to grade 12.

So I have had to
stay another year, while my peers in the UK , move up to College, 6th form or are
just done with high school. But I am settling well, and my school days are
running out!

There are no GCSE exams in Canada! I was thrilled to find this out
although there are yearly exams in each grade (finals).

The curriculum is very
different to the UK. There are some things that I had already learnt in the UK,
but also some things that I have had to catch up on.

I found that in the UK we
studied in more depth for a longer period of time, but here we cover things in
a short time and get tested more often.

Generally I feel like the Canadian
system gives me more freedom, I get many days off, I mostly work at my own pace-
and no uniform!

Let's Talk Money

We have of course had to switch from the British Pound to
Canadian Dollars.

Many times, I still find myself doing conversions in my head. It took some time to get used to the massive difference, but I am getting there.

The Pound is worth 2
times more than the Canadian Dollar at the moment so items sometimes look
double the price.

Getting Post/ The Agony of Deliveries

The delivery system here sometimes makes me sad. It is
impossible to find some items here and there are often no delivery options for certain companies- or
the prices are ridiculously expensive!

There are many shops in the UK that I no
longer have access to, but that is something you have to get used to. Sending
things back and forth and money transfer can be a pain.

There are COUNTLESS differences that I encountered moving
from England to Canada, but those are some of the main ones.

Tips On Moving From England to Canada

A car is extremely useful!

Canada is huge and very sparsely populated. It is over 400 times larger in size and has nearly
one half of the population. You will
need a car to do anything there. And it is also a good idea to winter-proof your
car with snow tires. Public transport is generally not as efficient as in the
UK.

How to Deal with the Canadian Winter:

Dress in Layers

Wear a hat that covers your ears and a scarf that covers
your face for extreme temperatures

Don’t forget mittens or gloves

Get a good pair of winter-resistant boots and thick woolen
socks

Stay Healthy, eat well and get your vitamins

Get involved in fun winter activities such as ice skating
and skiing.

Stay Cheerful.

Overall, I am glad that I moved because it has opened up my view on the world and I have experienced new places and done things that I couldn't in the UK. I do miss the UK but I am happy that I have had the opportunity to know and discover both places.

I hope you enjoyed reading my in-depth page on moving from
England to Canada, and things you should know if you are planning to!